HARTFORD, CT – Gov. Ned Lamont told reporters Thursday morning that he won’t support a bill that would use taxpayer money to establish a striking workers assistance fund to be used in support of striking private sector employees.
The legislation, House Bill 5431, passed on a party-line vote in the Senate late Wednesday and is on its way to Lamont’s desk.
A reporter asked the governor whether he would sign or veto the bill.
“I don’t support it. I’ll tell you why,” Lamont said. “I just think it was too cute by half. If you want to have public dollars to support striking workers, have a vote, up or down. ‘I want public dollars to go support striking workers.’ That was not the bill that I think came out of there. So let’s just say I’m very skeptical.”
Pressed as to whether he would veto the bill, Lamont reiterated his first statement.
“I’m not gonna support it,” the governor said. “Let me see what we end up with. Let me take a look at it. It’s so damn vague. I don’t really know what’s in it, but I am not supportive.”
Lamont’s comment about the bill’s ambiguity is similar to separate criticism from Republicans at the Capitol who have repeatedly described the bill as absurd and a “slush fund” for the state comptroller’s office.
Asked if he had discussed how the bill would work with legislative leaders and State Comptroller Sean Scanlon, Lamont cut in:
“I don’t think anybody knows how it’s going to work. But that said, everything I know about it, I’m not going to support it. If you want to do this, have a real vote next year so people know what they’re voting on, not at 1145,” Lamont said.
Asked if he supports the concept, because similar funds exist in New York and New Jersey, Lamont responded:
“I’m not sure I do. Look, I’m one of the six pro-union guys in Greenwich, Connecticut. I think because the union movement was not strong over the last 30 years, we’ve hollowed out our middle class, especially when it comes to the service sector. I support the right to organize. I support defined benefit plans. I support expanded health care. And I want to make sure that we have a strong labor [presence to] negotiate at the table. Does that mean I want the taxpayers subsidizing, striking workers? I don’t think I do.”
Following the governor’s news conference, Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding and Sens. Rob Sampson and Eric Berthel released a statement in support of the governor’s comments.
“We appreciate that the governor took Senate Republicans’ advice and is preparing his veto pen,” their statement said. “The governor recognizes the absolute absurdity of the brazen bill that all of his fellow Democrats voted for. To be clear: Legislative Democrats signed off on a bill that was cloaked in ambiguity and non-specifics. They signed off on a bill which had no public hearing, so they willingly silenced the voice of the people. They voted yes to create a slush fund for the State Comptroller.”
Labor leaders, however, went from celebration late Wednesday to disappointment Thursday morning.
Ed Hawthorne, President of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, had said labor law is heavily weighted in favor of employers and as such employers have their thumb on the scale during negotiations, starving out workers on strike while hiring replacement workers to do their jobs. He added that the General Assembly had taken a major step toward leveling the playing field for working people.
Thursday he released the following statement:
“We are deeply disappointed that Gov. Lamont plans to veto this critical pro-worker legislation. This legislation would give countless workers a fair shot to negotiate a living wage and affordable benefits.”
